back bench

noun

Origin of back bench

First recorded in 1870–75

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

The GOP showed a deeper, stronger back bench that seems to be missing this year on the Democratic side of the aisle.
DNC Preview: The Democrats’ Convention Trap | Mark McKinnon | September 2, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
All the bed wetters and second guessers are now weighing in from the back bench.
In Defense of Clint Eastwood: Oddity Aside, GOP Convention Succeeded | Mark McKinnon | August 31, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
Why is a general so lionized hanging up his uniform for a back-bench position?
Behind David Petraeus' CIA Detour | Jamie McIntyre | May 6, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST
But the Virginia congressman has the most to gain from a back-bench revolt.
John Boehner's GOP Headaches | Benjamin Sarlin, Samuel P. Jacobs | January 6, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST
At thirty-seven he had been sitting in a stuff gown on a back bench in the Court of King's Bench.
The History of England from the Accession of James II. | Thomas Babington Macaulay

Then he indicated the vacant swing-back bench at the far side of the table, and sat down opposite to Cartoner himself.
The Vultures | Henry Seton Merriman
With the utmost alacrity one big girl from a back bench came rushing to the schoolmistress' assistance.
The Woman Thou Gavest Me | Hall Caine
The luckless form of the youthful Lawkins, pale and scared, rose from a back bench.
The Willoughby Captains | Talbot Baines Reed
The beds were made upon the earthen floor of his tomato-forcing house and under the back bench.
Mushrooms: how to grow them | William Falconer

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